A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Even a star at the top of his game can falter sometimes. The British folk-rock band Mumford & Sons took a seven-year hiatus between albums. Lead singer Marcus Mumford told me he was in denial about a lot of things, including his own identity as a songwriter. He credits pep talks from others for pulling him through. Now, one came from Noel Gallagher of Oasis.
MARCUS MUMFORD: I saw him in a bar and he was like, what are you doing? Always sounds aggressive, even though he's really nice.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
MUMFORD: And I was like, oh, I'm just on a break. A bit tired, been off on tour and, you know, just chilling out. And he was like, shut up, mate. Like, what are you doing? You're a songwriter. You should be writing songs every day. And he talks about songs falling from the sky by magic, and if you don't hold your hands out to catch them, then [expletive] Chris Martin or [expletive] Bono's going to catch them (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: That lit a fire. Mumford & Sons are about to release their second album in just seven months. It's called "Prizefighter."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STAY")
MUMFORD AND SONS: (Singing) The rosehips, the sunrise the sea foam, it's waiting for you. So will you stay?
MARTÍNEZ: Mumford says the timing of the two albums had a very specific inspiration.
MUMFORD: We have a friend who believes in this concept of a bang-bang. Do you know what a bang-bang is?
MARTÍNEZ: I don't. Please tell me.
MUMFORD: A bang-bang is when you go to a restaurant and you sit down and you have a whole meal, then you stand up and you go next door to the other restaurant and you sit down and you have a whole meal.
MARTÍNEZ: Wait.
MUMFORD: It's called a bang-bang (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: A whole meal?
MUMFORD: (Laughter) Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: You can actually do that?
MUMFORD: I've never done it, but I know a few people who have and who can, and I greatly admire it. So we wanted to do that with a record.
MARTÍNEZ: "Prizefighter" includes a bunch of guest appearances. The track "Rubber Band Man" features Hozier.
MUMFORD: We gave him the pick.
MARTÍNEZ: You gave him the pick on that (ph)?
MUMFORD: Yeah. We played him a bunch of songs. Like, do you fancy singing on any of these? And when he chose that one, it worked so well.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUBBER BAND MAN")
MUMFORD AND SONS AND HOZIER: (Singing) You're a world away, but you're still the same. I know you by your heart, and I will call you by your name. And it's a long way from the crack to the break. You know that I remember everything.
MUMFORD: On this record, we just wanted to open the doors a bit more to our friends. We spent a long time investing in relationships in the music business, not just so that we can name-drop - partly so we can name-drop (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Why not, right?
MUMFORD: But not just so that we can name-drop.
MARTÍNEZ: Otherwise, no one knows if you don't name-drop.
MUMFORD: (Laughter) But because we really believe in this artistic community we get the privilege of being part of. And we've never really represented how collaborative our band has been historically on our records. We've done it live, but we've never done it on our records, and we thought this was the time to do it.
MARTÍNEZ: And you mentioned collaborations - working with friends. I mean, sometimes artists don't want their friends around.
MUMFORD: No, and we didn't for the first few records, you know? We've never done this before. And I think we're very protective of our particular collaborative corner. And that maybe is - like, comes from a place of youth or, you know, when you're new and starting out, you've got to carve a path and make sure that people understand it's you and only you. Having spent more and more time writing songs and hanging out with stellar songwriters who just aren't precious about where a song comes from, isn't that the whole point of art - like, connecting human beings? If there's someone in the room that can help you connect more deeply with what the song is about, or indeed with your audience, then hell yeah. Let's go.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUBBER BAND MAN")
MUMFORD AND SONS AND HOZIER: (Singing) You'rе a world away, but you're still the same. You know that I remember everything.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, for fans of yours that love the band's folksy roots, this title, I'm sure, will please them - "The Banjo Song." There's a line in that song - did you call? Did you fall? Do you need someone?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BANJO SONG")
MUMFORD AND SONS: (Singing) Well, hey, did you call? Did you fall? Do you need someone? Do you need someone?
MARTÍNEZ: I got a feeling a lot of people are going to connect with that song, especially after the year we had in 2025, where it just seemed like people were falling all over the place and needed someone to be there. What does that line mean to you?
MUMFORD: The next line is more important than - I'm a mess myself.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Yeah.
MUMFORD: But I think I could be someone if you need someone. I'm definitely not perfect, but I'll probably have to do (laughter), you know?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BANJO SONG")
MUMFORD AND SONS: (Singing) I could be someone for you.
MUMFORD: I'm more and more convinced that heaven is human connection.
MARTÍNEZ: Really?
MUMFORD: And there's a lot of that on this record.
MARTÍNEZ: 'Cause people struggle with human connection now. I mean...
MUMFORD: We're so desperate for connection that we look for it all over the place, I think.
MARTÍNEZ: But we're terrified of it when we get it, I think, right? Because we're...
MUMFORD: I think that's true.
MARTÍNEZ: I mean, we're in rooms with computers and phones, and people aren't necessarily...
MUMFORD: Yeah. And good connection...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MUMFORD: I think good human connection requires vulnerability on both sides, which we're probably - and as men, certainly, we're typically not very good at. And yeah, there are forces at work to try and compromise that purity of human connection that I'm talking about.
MARTÍNEZ: Were you able to be the person you needed to be in that situation from that line? I mean, were you able to be the one...
MUMFORD: No, I wasn't. I failed completely on that one.
MARTÍNEZ: No kidding.
MUMFORD: Yeah. Then I got up and tried again. Just kept singing that song to myself.
MARTÍNEZ: Do you struggle cutting yourself some slack?
MUMFORD: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Why?
MUMFORD: I have historically.
MARTÍNEZ: Why?
MUMFORD: I'm ambitious for myself, as well as for - obviously for work stuff and for our band, but I'm ambitious. It's funny with records. You get totally obsessive about listening to a song, getting it right, and then you do, then you put it away and you never listen to it again. Although this - I will say that "Prizefighter" is the first time I've heard recordings that we've made with a bit of space after we've made them and felt like I wouldn't change a note.
MARTÍNEZ: Well, you mentioned, I mean, you're ambitious. So when it comes to the success of that first album, "Sigh No More," I mean, that was a rocket ship, right? I mean, "Little Lion Man" and "The Cave."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CAVE")
MUMFORD AND SONS: (Singing) But I will hold on hope, and I won't let you choke on the noose around your neck.
MARTÍNEZ: Did you ever try to replicate that?
MUMFORD: No. We did the opposite, actually. Because, really, "Sigh No More" and "Babel" were written in one season in which - of craziness (laughter), and then all that wild stuff really happened. And we took a left turn on "Wilder Mind," I think because we felt like we wanted to be a band for a really long time. We didn't feel like we could be pigeonholed in one thing, but those two records were doing a good job just sticking us in a particular corner, and we wanted to go a bit more wide-screen with the sound. And "Rushmere," we kind of came back to the instrumentation we started with. And then "Prizefighter", I feel, is, like, the best version of the crystallization of what we're trying to do as a three-piece. And it's really - yeah, I really like it.
MARTÍNEZ: Another seven months for the next album or seven years?
MUMFORD: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Which is it going to be?
MUMFORD: Yeah, you need to know right now, and it's got to be either one or the other. Let's go seven months, shall we?
MARTÍNEZ: Seven months?
MUMFORD: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. We'll be expecting it.
MUMFORD: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Marcus Mumford is the lead singer of Mumford & Sons. The band's new album is called "Prizefighter." Marcus, thanks for coming into NPR West.
MUMFORD: A, thank you so much for having me. Big fan.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HERE")
MUMFORD AND SONS AND CHRIS STAPLETON: (Singing) Well, here's my pride and here's my shame. Here's a trophy that bears my name. Herе's all the mistakes I made. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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